Jeff Greene optimistic as he votes in Palm Beach

Wednesday

Jeff Greene, the Palm Beach billionaire real estate investor, struck an optimistic note during today’s primary election about his campaign to become the Democratic nominee for governor.

"It’s been a fantastic campaign," said Greene, who took questions from reporters after casting his ballot at Palm Beach’s Central Fire Station. "We got in late but had amazing support all over Florida."

PHOTOS: 2018 Florida Primary Voting

A small group of supporters gathered to greet Greene, who arrived around 11 a.m. with his wife Mei Sze and their three small children in a blue Tesla Model S.

Greene pulled back on television ads during the last week of the campaign and called off a planned election-night party at his Tideline Ocean Resort & Spa in Palm Beach. He has acknowledged that his polling numbers aren’t the best, but said he remains optimistic that his campaign’s ground game can turn out voters he needs to win the five-candidate Democratic primary for governor.

"We’ve had more TV ads than anybody else in the campaign," he said. "We decided to pull back and focus on our ground game."

He noted that a Gravis Marketing poll released Monday showed him as in "close second" place behind Gwen Graham, who led by 7 points, 26 percent to 19 percent.

Greene said he’s hosting an election-night party at his home with supporters and campaign staff. "It’s a more intimate place."

If he wins the primary, Greene said he will appear at the Tideline tonight.

If he doesn’t win, Greene said he will not run for governor as an independent. Any of the Democratic gubernatorial candidates would be a vast improvement over Republican Gov. Rick Scott, he said.

"I am a Democrat," he said. "I will support the Democratic nominee."

He also said that, should he lose, he would not rule out another run for public office in the future. "I never say never," he said.

Greene said he’ll keep on working to improve the lives of Florida residents by supporting common-sense gun laws, a cleaner environment, and "Universal Pre-K," a movement to make preschool available to all families.